From Truth to Intolerance

When truth is no longer the principle that unites God's people, it becomes popular to urge tolerance. It is ironic that usually the only belief system that seems intolerable under such circumstances is that of faithfulness to God's truth.

There is a further development when truth is no longer the basis of church fellowship. The moral, spiritual and behavioral tone of the members deteriorates markedly. Whereas once the church would have dealt swiftly with adulterers, fornicators, thieves, and the like, now, through a false profession of love and concern, the most vile sins are covered under the cloak of "righteous" compassion.

When truth and sanctification are no longer the standard by which church membership is evaluated, a new standard must be established. Inevitably, the new standard is built upon "loyalty to the church." "Loyalty to the church" comes to be interpreted as "a non-critical attitude toward the church," "a non-critical attitude toward other members of the church," "a non-critical attitude toward the leaders and pastors of the church."

This matter has affected the Church Manual and the procedures of discipline in the church. At the General Conference Session in Dallas in 1980, another reason for disfellowshiping was added. It is important to note that this additional ground for disfellowshipment was added 136 years after the Great Disappointment, and 117 years after the formation of the General Conference. For all of that period of time, this reason for disfellowshiping was never used or needed. This new ground for disfellowshiping added in 1980, appears as item number eight in the Church Manual. It reads as follows: "Adhering to or taking part in a divisive or disloyal movement or organization" (Church Manual, Revised 2000 16th Edition, page 185). It will be noticed that this allows for an extraordinarily subjective evaluation for disfellowshipment. Theft, adultery, or doctrinal deviation are objective criteria for disfellowshipment; but this ground calls for the human analysis of whether someone has been disloyal or divisive.

Today, as we predicted in 1980, the eighth of the grounds for disfellowshiping is increasingly becoming the chief reason for disfellowshiping. Godless men and women living a life of sin and deception are allowed to retain their membership in God's church, while faithful men and women are thrust out. There is now an alarming trend worldwide: those who are steeped in sin are being retained on the church record books as members in good and regular standing, on the basis that we must show them love and concern, while others are ruthlessly disfellowshiped for expressing their deep concern for the apostasy and worldliness in the church. These people, in their love for God and for the church, try to awake their Laodicean brethren, but in the process those who resist their earnest pleadings turn upon them and declare that they are the troublers of Israel. They are called critics, legalists, and perfectionists, names which wholly misrepresent these sincere and godly people.

Portions excerpted from Organizational Structure and Apostasy, by Colin and Russell Standish, pages 115-123.